Kid Bailey

Kid Bailey (Date of birth unknown - after 1960) was a Mississippi Delta bluesman. His one known recording session occurred on September 25, 1929, in Memphis, Tennessee.

Little is known about Bailey. His voice had a distinctly coarse yet youthful quality. Two of his recordings have survived: "Rowdy Blues" and "Mississippi Bottom Blues". In most digital releases, the tracks are attributed to Willie Brown yet are evidently the same artist credited as Kid Bailey on the original 78-rpm recordings.

It has been remarked that "Although it's almost a cliché to say this about a blues musician from the American South, Kid Bailey was one of the most enigmatic musicians of the era." There has been some speculation that Kid Bailey was a pseudonym of the blues singer Willie Brown.

Bailey's songs have been covered by Ian A. Anderson, Rory Block, Doug Cox, the Be Good Tanyas, and Thomasina Winslow with Nick Katzman.

His song "Rowdy Blues" is included on the compilation album Masters of the Delta Blues: The Friends of Charlie Patton, released by Yazoo Records.

Birth and Death Data: Died 20th century

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1929

Roles Represented in DAHR: vocalist

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Brunswick M209 10-in. 9/25/1929 Mississippi bottom blues Kid Bailey Male vocal solo, with guitars vocalist  
Brunswick M210 10-in. 9/25/1929 Mississippi bottom blues Kid Bailey Male vocal solo, with guitars vocalist  
Brunswick M211 10-in. 9/25/1929 Rowdy blues Kid Bailey Male vocal solo, with guitars vocalist  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Kid Bailey," accessed May 15, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/325201.

Kid Bailey. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved May 15, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/325201.

"Kid Bailey." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 15 May 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/325201

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